Published 12:00 am, Friday, July 6, 2012

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JOHN NESTOR/Register Citizen Correspondent
Jedd Gravel went the distance to help Tri-Town Connie Mack snap a seven-game losing skid on Friday evening at Community Field in Litchfield. Tri-Town beat Amenia 5-4.

JOHN NESTOR/Register Citizen Correspondent
Jedd Gravel went the distance to help Tri-Town Connie Mack snap a seven-game losing skid on Friday evening at Community Field in Litchfield. Tri-Town beat Amenia 5-4.

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JOHN NESTOR/Register Citizen Correspondent
Tri-Town's Peter Schneider rounds third and heads home to score in the second inning of Friday's 5-4 win over Amenia at Community Field in Litchfield.

JOHN NESTOR/Register Citizen Correspondent
Tri-Town's Peter Schneider rounds third and heads home to score in the second inning of Friday's 5-4 win over Amenia at Community Field in Litchfield.

Gravel went the distance and Tri-Town put up three runs in the first inning and never trailed in a 5-4 victory over Amenia on Friday evening at Community Field.

Tri-Town (4-7) came in on a seven-game losing streak but went right to work in trying to end the skid. Doug Whipple doubled and scored a run in the first while Tim Bergin added an RBI triple and a run scored in the frame as well. Alex Brady also had a base hit and scored in the first inning.

"We got off to a quick start and we started hitting the ball tonight," Tri-Town coach Mark Bovat said. "Playing from ahead was one of the keys. Really it was just nice to see us get the bats going."

Tri-Town added to its lead in the second inning, scoring a pair of runs to take a 5-0 lead. Pete Schneider walked and stole a base and then scored on an RBI single by Whipple.

Whipple then stole a pair of bases and scored on a passed ball for what ended up being the winning run.

Staked to a big lead, Gravel got through the first three innings without allowing a run. Amenia didn't get its first hit of the game until the third inning when it loaded the bases with no outs but failed to score.

"Jedd pitched a heck of a game," Bovat said. "He pitched in and out of trouble and our defense made the plays. We got a couple double plays and our outfield played outstanding, made some catches that we needed."

Amenia (8-6) came in streaking in the other direction, having won its last five games, and didn't go quietly in this one. They scored a run in the fourth to make it 5-1 and added another in the fifth to close the gap to 5-2.

"I started off pretty good the first couple innings went good, went quick," Gravel said. "I got into a little bit of trouble when I started walking some people. The main difference was that I wasn't getting ahead of the hitters, I stopped throwing strike one."

Amenia continued its comeback in the top of the sixth, scoring two more runs to cut the deficit to 5-4. Steven Hutchinson had an RBI triple in the gap in right center field and scored on a sacrifice fly by Micah Weaver. Gravel then settled down to get the next two hitters and maintain the lead.

What allowed Amenia time to make its comeback was the pitching performance by Griffin Wilson, who came on in the third inning and held Tri-Town in check despite loading the bases in the third.

"Our starter had a little arm trouble after two innings and Griffin wanted to come in even though he pitched a few days ago," Amenia coach Ron Wilson said. "He did a good job holding them down and giving us a chance to get back in it, the slow start just cost us though."

Gravel retired the side in order to end it with Bergin making a leaping grab in the hole at short for the final out.

"The defense played great behind me and it feels good to get a win," Gravel said. "We have some good ballplayers on the team and hopefully this will get us going."